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The objective of this study was to compare the effects of supplementation with 2 carotenoids, curcumin and lutein, on pigmentation and immunity in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated broiler chicks. Two hundred forty 1-d-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly distributed into 3 dietary treatment groups: a basal diet without carotenoid supplementation (control), a basal diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg of curcumin (CRM), or a basal diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg of lutein (LTN) for 42 d. The birds were vaccinated against Newcastle disease (ND) and avian influenza on d 10. At 16, 18, and 20 d of age, half of the chicks in each group were injected in the abdominal region with either LPS (250 mg/kg of BW) or an equal volume of 0.9% NaCl. The intensity of the shank skin color (Roche color fan score) and the b* (yellow) values of the breasts and thighs were highest in lutein-supplemented broilers, followed by curcumin-supplemented and control broilers, whereas the a* (red) value of the thigh muscle was highest in curcumin-supplemented LPS-induced birds. At 42 d, the relative weight of the abdominal fat was lowest in the CRM-supplemented group, followed by the LTN-supplemented and control groups; the spleen weight was lower in the non-LPS-induced LTN-supplemented group than the LPS-induced control group. The ND and avian influenza titers were significantly higher in the CRM-supplemented group than in the other groups at 20 d; at 30 d, the ND titer was significantly higher in the LPS-induced LTN group. Supplementation with curcumin significantly promoted B and T lymphocyte proliferation in both LPS- and non-LPS-induced birds at 21 d. Curcumin also promoted B lymphocyte proliferation in non-LPS-induced birds at 42 d. Curcumin significantly reduced alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities at 42 d in non-LPS-treated birds, whereas lutein significantly increased the activities of these enzymes in LPS-induced birds. Both carotenoids significantly lowered lipid oxidation in the liver of supplemented birds. Thus, in broiler chickens, lutein-supplemented birds exhibited better pigmentation efficiency, whereas curcumin-supplemented birds exhibited improved immune responses.

1. An experiment was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the antioxidants curcumin (CRM) and lutein (LTN) on the quality of meat from coccidiosis-infected broilers. A total of 200 one-day-old Arbor Acre chicks were randomly assigned to a treatment group with 5 replicates. The treatments included a basal diet without carotenoid supplementation (control), with 300 mg/kg CRM, with 300 mg/kg LTN or with a combination (C + L) of 150 mg/kg CRM and 150 mg/kg LTN. All chickens were challenged with Eimeria maxima at 21 d old. 2. The results revealed that the coccidiosis reduced redness of meat, while supplementation with carotenoids improved the fresh meat's redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) and contributed to colour stability maintenance after storage (1 month at -18°C and 3 d at 4°C). 3. Coccidiosis did not produce lipid and protein oxidation in fresh meat, but after storage for one month, the malondialdehyde levels and carbonyl contents were lower in the CRM and C + L birds and the sulfhydryl contents were higher in C + L birds. 4. The sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis banding pattern showed equivalent myosin chain fragmentations in all treatment groups, whereas lower intensity actin bands were observed in the control group (CONT). Moreover, myofibril protein denaturation (differential scanning calorimetry) profiles showed a reduction in the CONT myosin and actin peaks. Coccidiosis reduced the meat's water holding capacity in non-supplemented chicken meat and was improved by natural carotenoid. 5. These results emphasise that coccidiosis did not decrease the eating quality of fresh meat, that natural carotenoids are efficient antioxidants and that CRM (300 mg/kg) fed individually or combined with LTN was the most effective supplemented antioxidant compound.

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Meat quality is of great interest to producers, consumers, and scientists, as it mainly includes tenderness, color, water-holding capacity, and nutritional value of meat (Hopkins & Geesink, 2009). Tenderness is considered the most critical palatability factor that can affect meat quality (Koohmaraie & Geesink, 2006). Researchers found that inadequate tenderness plays a significant role in consumer dissatisfaction while they are willing to pay extra money on guaranteed tender beef (Feldkamp, Schroeder, & Lusk, 2005). The tenderness is primarily influenced by the production and processing factors. The production factors mainly include animal species, breed, gender, age, weight at slaughter, and nutritional management at the farm. On the other hand, processing factors generally involve postharvest-specific techniques like carcass chilling and aging to enhance the tenderness of beef. Among the production factors, animal age at slaughter has a strong impact on tenderness (Lawrence, Whatley, Montgomery, Perino, & Dikeman, 2001). Most of the studies have consistently concluded that the advancement of animal age leads to a decrease in beef tenderness due to the deposition of heat-stable collagen fibers (Xiong et al., 2007).